News in pictures – 14 May 2010

With four children, all under the age of six, watching movies is a real family event for the owners of this Kensington apartment. With no room for a dedicated home cinema, this award-winning solution doubles up as a playroom and homework den. The room’s multi-functionality meant that its audiovisual elements needed to fill the space when required, but be discreet when not in use.

Olive AV has worked with the architect to deliver a 60-inch screen that is seamlessly integrated into the space. Clever colour matching and hidden speakers ensure that the room’s components blend together.

The installation won the Best Media Room under £15,000 category at the recent CEDIA Awards 2010. Designed by Robin Ellis Design and Construction, the project was described as “the perfect demonstration of seamless integration within a minimalist space.”

Vanity is a high profile nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas whose visual focal point is a stunning, custom-made chandelier made up of 20,000 LED points driven by a Martin Maxedia Compact media server.

The Westside leisure and shopping centre, designed by world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, forms the hub of a completely new district in the city of Bern.

The CHF 500 million Westside development tcontains some 55 specialist retail outlets and boutiques, 10 restaurants and bars, an 11-screen multiplex cinema, a 144-room hotel, 11 seminar rooms and Switzerland’s largest adventure pool and spa, complete with fitness park.

Barix is involved in delivering the sound technology. The property developer Neue Brünnen AG commissioned Digital Media Distribution AG (DMD²) to provide a tailored sound system for the shops, arcades and food court.

DMD2 used Barix IP audio streaming components to distribute the 10 customised music channels, fine-tuning its “retailradio.fm” product to meet the needs of the Westside complex. This gives Westside ten music stations, offering a range of sounds including lounge mix, party tunes and classical music.

The building into divided into several zones. These zones are defined by the physical environment or its function, eg food court, event area etc. A Barix Exstreamer was installed for each zone by simply connecting it to the existing local area network. It receives an audio stream via the Internet, converts it into music and feeds the signal into the on-site audio system.

The Pulsar ChromaRange LED system illuminating the Zain Group’s Bahrain headquarters can be seen for miles around

Mobile telecommunications company Zain has a more vibrant brand identity with its move to a new 23-storey, state of the art, office, that illuminates the Bahrain skyline.

The spectacular lighting design intent was designed by Future Brand of London and project managed by the Bahrain office of the design company dwp. Working together with Pulsar’s Bahrain representatives Behzad lighting, Future Brand developed a concept for a highly visual, energy-efficient LED lighting system that would tally with the vibrant image associated with Zain.

Behzad and Pulsar then set to work interpreting the concept into a technical solution that utilised a total of just over 500 items from the ChromaRange family of LED fixtures. All units utilised are rated at IP66, in order to be protected from sand, dust and high humidity, along with an ambient operating temperature rating of +50 degrees centigrade to cope with the extremes of weather found in the region. Installation of the system was performed by local electrical contractor Delta, under the supervision of the Behzad Lighting’s project division.www.pulsarlight.com